Insect catcher



Nov. 1'1 1924.

L. c. MILLER INSECT CATCHER Filed Dec". 15

FIIL NN Patented Nov, Il, 1924,

LOUIS C. IVIILLER, 0F VERONA, NEW JERSEY.

INSECT CATCHER.

Application filed December 16, 1922.' Serial No. 607,362.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, LoUrs C. MILLER, a citizen of the United States, residing in Verona, county of Essex, and State of New Jersey, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Insect Catchers, of which the following is a description.

This invention has reference to devices for destroying pestiferous and other insects such as mosquitoes and flies, and particularly relates to a device by means of which such insects can be caught and killed, regardless of whether they are on the wing or have alighted upon the wall, ceiling, table, pendant, or other place.

Devices for killing flies and other insects have heretofore been produced, some of which have been given the name of swatter. Traps have been made and used, into which the flies can crawl and from which they cannot find egress. Sticky substances such as adhesive ily paper and also poisonous baths have been employed calculated to kill the insects. Various other devices and expediente have been employed and` suggested; but, all of them are objectionable for one reason or another. 'Ihe swatter7 is objectionable for the reason that, when the insect is struck, it invariably smears, stains or soils the object on which the insect has alighted; and frequently, in swatting the insect, wall paper, ceiling or linen is badly soiled or some other object is knocked over and broken or interferes with the attack. Swatters cannot be used to catch the insect on the wing, but only to destroy the insect after it has alighted. Traps are objectionable because they are comparatively expensive, are not effective for the purpose, in that they catch only'a small percentage of flies and never catch mosquitoes, and also because subsequently the trap has to be submerged in water in an attempt to drown the insects and thus destroy them after being caught. Sticky substances, such as the wellknown fly paper, are objectionable because it is difiicult to handle and must be laid in places where it frequently is brought into contact with children and household animals and not infrequently is engaged by garments worn by the person. rllhe poisonous bath is highly objectionablel because frequently the fly willdrink the same and immediately fly away and fall dead into food and other things and places; and such baths are dangerous also to household animals and children. Both sticky and. p'OisOnOusiy-papers are also objectionable because they are unsightly. Tofovercome all the foregoing ob` jections, I have provided an insect catcher` through the medium` of which all insects,. flies,.mosquitoes, etc., can be caught onthe wing or in flight, as well as after they have alighted, andc instantly killed, thus avoiding smears on the wall, ceiling, linen, and enabling a room to be clearedl out readily and effectively. Y

With the above objects in view and others which will bedetailed during.- the courseof this description, my invention, consists in the parts, features, elements and combinations thereof: hereinafter described and claimed.

In order that my'inventionfmay be clear-ly understood, I have provided drawings wherein:

Figure l is a topy plan view of my insect catcher;

Figure Q'is a side elevationA ofthe structureof Figure l showing the device closed;

Figure 3 is a View) similar to Figure l showing the device open;

Figure 4t; is a section, onianJ enlarged scale, taken onthe line 4-4 of; Figure l', the arrows indicatingftheidirectioni off sight; and

Figure 5 is a section` on the line 5-5 of Figure 4f, the'arrows indicating. the direction of sight.

In the drawings I` have illustrated; a simple form of my invention which I have foundfin practice to be effective and suflicient, and therein the numeral l indicates the handle of the device, provided with a peripheral groove in which is'laid a wire bent to conform to the shapeof the handle, such bent portion being' indicated at 2.' The wire, after being bent and laid inA the groove of the handle,` is extended into two parallel bars 3, the said bars at their free ends being bent away from each other at a right-angle, as at 4l, and'then intorectangular form, thus producing a base or bottom frame iconstituting the bottom wing of the device.. The ends of the wire can be soldered together in any suitable manner, or `the rectangular frame Ercan' be irst"madethen' thebars 3 produced, and then the free ends of the wires-fitted into the groove of the handle, as at 2, and the ends solderedtogether or otherwise fastened', as may` ber found most convenient, economical and'effective. rIhe mode of making this portionV of the; device con- @E Lerares sisting of bottom frame, handle member and duplex connecting bar is immaterial from the standpoint of my invention, since the same can be made in various Ways without departing from the spirit and essence of my invention. 1n order to strengthen the bars 3, and hold them properly in parallelism, l have provided bracing clips 6, 7 and 8 loJ cated at any desired point along the length the bars 3 and adapted to hold the same in parallelism and rigidly together and also to form guiding, bracing and spacing de vices 9 and 10, for the manipulation rod, as presently described. rlChe swinging mem-- ber or Wing of my insect catcher consists or a rectangular `frame 11 in shape identical With the rectangular bottom frame 5, the same having its tree ends brought into close relationship at the point of bending the handle bars 3 from the rectangular rame 5, and then bent into upstandine arms 12, the free end of each oi which is termed into an eye 13 through which is passed a headed pin or bar 14, the heads 15 ot the pin holding the arms 12 from separation and so that they may Work together under the intluence ot the manipulator and controlling spring.

For holding the trame members 5 and 11 together and enabling the one 11 to svi/'ing or journal upon the other 5, a bracket is provided consisting of a bar 1G provided at its opposite ends with upturned arms 1? which at their tree ends are bent over the bach bars or' the top member 11. rllhe baix 16 also has f-shaped arms 18 which are bent upwardly and over the top ot' the back bars il; yot trame 5 and between the same and the back bars olf the 'frame 11 and over the top ot said bars, as at 19, the two arms and 18 thus providing a rigid connecting and sustaining means or the two trames 5 and 11 and providing journal bearings for the trame 11 upon the frame 5. To hold the arms 12 of the iframe 11 in close relationship, lthe bar 16 has riveted thereto a lll-shaped bracket with sustaining arms 20, through which the 'frame bars 11 are passed before the ends 12 are bent upwardly, said arms 2O also holding the arms 12 in proper relationship and likewise forming journal bearings 'for the 'frame 11. The bar 1G m ay also have struck up therefrom or secured thereto in any suitable Way the brace 21, the tree ends ot which are looped and through which the bars 3 pass and by which they are held in proper relationship adjacent the point at which they are bent into the back bars lor' the frame 5. Coiled springs 22 yof considerable tension encircle the baclr bars of the trame 11 adjacent the arms 12, one end of each of which springs is angularly bent, as at 23, into engagement With the arms 12, so as to impose tension thereon and turn the :trame member 11 into engagement With the trame member 5 and normally hold that position. The 'opposite end of each of the springs is bent, as at 24, into engagement with the adjacent bar i of the lower frame 5, so as to hold the spring from rotation and enable the same to impose its torsional tension upon the arms 12.

The top frame, or swinging member 11., is hinged on the bottom Aframe memberl 5 and operated by the manipulator consisting ot the red extended the major portion of its length between and parallel with the bars 3 ane passed through the guides 9 and 10. ritt the handle end, the rod 25 is bent upwardly, at 2G, and has its tree end encircling a pin 2'? carried by a U-shaped thun b-piece 28, having an enlarged, rounded portion 29 on which the thumb is pressed and over which it is snapped in manipulating the member 11, as presently described. rthe thumb-piece has its ends journaled at 30 upon a pin or sho-rt bar which passes through upstanding ears 31 of the brace piece 8. rlhus the thumb-piece 28 can be swung upon the pivot 30 and the bent end 2G olf the rot` 25 can play loosely on the pin 2'?, the thun'ib-piece thus drawing the rod toward the handle Ytor the purpose ot li 'ting the n'iember from the member 5, as l The outer end clearly shown in Figure o.

the rod is upwardly and outwardly bent, as at 82, and at its extreme end encircles the pin or bar 111- between the arms 12, as shown at 8?, Figures 1, 1- and 5.

Each of the Yframe mer' bers 5 and l1 is covered with Fine Wire mesh Sel, which is Wrapped around and s cured to the. bars el the trame men'ibers and stretched tigntly across the latter, as shown in Figure t. "l

. i115 trame members ot identical size and shape preferably, thus causing the member 11 to shut upon the member 5, the bars et one striking the bars ot the other, thus preventing the wire mesh or either one from being distended or gradually broken down by the snapping ot the Yframe 11 upon the 'frame 5. The bars ci the iframe niiay be bound with a sott substance, such as telt or flannel, indicated at 35, the object ot which is to prevent the bars or' the frame member from scratching the Wall, Wall paper, the Woodwork or any other substance or material it may come into contact with during the manipulation oi the device. 'l he top member 11 can be liited Afrom the bottom member 5 to the extent shown in Figure 3, viz, With the one member at substantially a right-angle to the other member, and When the member 11 is in this position the thumb-piece 28 Will. be in engagement, or substantially so.l with the handle 1.

ln order to operate or manipulate the catcher, the handle 1 is gasped and the thumb is applied to the thumb-piece 28, the parts normally being in the position of Figures 1 and 2, Pressure applied to the l ou llt)

' ceiling or any other object on which the insect has alighted and very quickly shoved toward the insect, which will immediately take a flight, and as it lies upwardly the thumb is snapped ott the thumb-piece 28, allowing the springs 22 to instantly and rapidly swing the top member ll againstthe bottom member 5, and in so doing strike and force the insect against the bottom member 5 and thus kill it. rlhis mode of operation can be carried on repeatedly and never fails; and one does not have to be an eX- pert to accomplish the results, as it has been found that young children and women as well as men can almost instantly grasp the idea and can so manipulate the device as to not only catch the insects which have alighted upon wall, ceiling, chandelier, pendants or other places, but can literally catch them on the wing or in flight by quickly swinging the device. and snapping thethumb trom the thumb-piece as previously described.

Having thus described my invention, what l claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. An insect catcher comprising two members of approximately equal dimensions and composed of wire mesh; a connecting bar rigidly secured to one of said members and having a. handle at its free end; means tor hinging one ot said members to the other;

vand a spring controlled manipulator connecting one of the members with the said bar comprising a rod housed within the bar, a thumb-piece pivoted to the rod and also to the bar adjacent the handle, and adapted to be limited in its movement by said handle.

2. An insect catcher comprising a duplex bar formed of a single piece of wire which is also formed at one end into a rectangular member and at the other end into a handle loop; a corresponding rectangular member hinged to said irst member; the two rectangular members being covered with wire mesh; a handle held in the loop of the bar; a spring-controlled manipulator for the second member pivotally connected thereto.; a.

thumb-piece pivotally connected to the bar and to the manipulator and arranged adjacent the handle.

3. An insect catcher comprising a rectangular base member, a connecting bar and a handle formed of a single piece of wire; a top member formed ot a single piece of wire and hinged to the base member; the two members being covered with wire mesh; a spring for normally holding the topl member in contact with the base member; a. rod pivotally connected to the top member, the rod being supported, guided and braced by the connecting bar; a thumb-piece pivotally mounted on the bar and loosely connected to the rod whereby pressure upon the thumb piece will separate the top member from the base member against the action ot' the spring.

4. An insect catcher comprising a single piece of wire formed at one end into a rectangular' member, and at the other end into a handle loop, and between the loop and member into parallel connecting' bars; a corresponding rectangular member hinged to said first member; the two rectangular members being covered with wire; a springcontrolled manipulator for the second member pivotally connected thereto and extending between the connecting bars; means carried by the bars and cooperating with the manipulator for guiding and sustaining the latter; and means connected to the manipulator and arranged adjacent the handle loop for actuating the manipulator.

LOUIS C. MILLER. 

